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Bathyspheres
Sitemap . . . Bathyspheres The system shown in the game would need to be a bit different to actually function. In the artist concepts for the BioShock Movie Linky, the artist perhaps understood that the Bathyspheres actually travel on a Cable system, instead of being free floating/self-propelled submarines : SEE Bathysphere_Details . . . . . . . . . --- --- --- Private Bathysphere Customers : Private Bathyspheres probably would have had only the richer citizens (top 5%? or fewer) affording them because of the facilities they required to operate. They aren't like autos where you can get out anywhere off or on a road/curbside, or run them on a shoestring (any serious fault leads to death of the occupants). Look at the size of the facilities required -- the dock at the MultiPlayer Apartment is close (doesn't have to be quite as grand) and to get anywhere there would have to there be a Bathysphere station and parking area (never seen) which is likewise an expensive facility. The Bathysphere station we see in the game themselves aren't sufficient for any real 'Metro Transit' for a city of tens of thousands of people (even with only a small portion affording the premium fares ). The maintenance costs for them also would far exceed what we think of as for the 'every man' automobile. Still for those who could afford them, Deluxe Bathyspheres (or rather they SHOULD be called 'submarines') could be a sold product (more like expensive sports-cars/limos/airplane and not particularly to 'housewives'). 'Private airplane' probably IS a good analogy for what they would be in Rapture (Rapture is based on good ole 50s technology and not some fantasy 'StarTrek' tech stolen thru quantum dimensional holes or whatever to justify the game situation.) --- --- --- . . . . . . . . . . . . . --- --- --- Bathysphere System on Cables : Early Rapture had no Thinker Super Computer, no lesser 'computers' which could 'guide' transit Bathyspheres automatically. Neither would 'radios' even make that work. A Pilot would be needed for every self-propelled 'bathysphere' (and Labor IS a major expense of such operations). SO - Clamping onto a moving cable running DIRECTLY to the next station was much simpler (cheaper), and predictably safer than having individually piloted vehicles - Which had to deal with ocean current variations, traffic, etc.... Automatic and redundant mechanical methods for Public Transit were much more reliable and safer. It also eliminated the many problems of fueling (or worse batteries), and the issue of expensively maintaining a more complex vehicle (effectively self-propelled submarine), and increased the systems carrying capacity. Submarine 'Taxis' were still available for transfer to private stations/docks (at a MUCH greater expense). Remember, there are no subsidized transportation fares in 'pay as you go' Rapture. Cost effectiveness was required for anything to be plausible there. --- --- --- Automatic Bathyspheres - Sorry This Isn't Star Trek : They have to manually dock space craft even today, so consider what a self-driving submarine would have to be like (to dock/enter airlocks, or navigate in currents and handle traffic) - so more reason that is NOT what the Bathyspheres are. The equivalent of 'running on a rail' (My Cableway Design) greatly simplifies 'automatic' operations for the Rapture Transit Bathyspheres. Rich people can afford to have a Chauffeur for their private submarines (and a mechanic, and a parking garage with massive airlock, and can afford paying parking fees in similar 'public' parking facilities at destinations). --- --- --- The Bathysphere Station Venue : How do you avoid that Sea Water Stink/Stench which WOULD Permeate the Bathysphere and AE Stations ? : It DOESN'T smell like a pleasant 'Sea Breeze' to the waiting passengers. (Very Expensive Counter-measures ?) Waterfront Smells - Scrubbing is alot of Labor, strong chemicals would stink even more (especially in the enclosed space). Air filtering is costly, and not overly effective when the water continues to emanate the smell within such closed-in areas. A Station with all that open water just isn't too good for avoiding this problem. Organic matter continues to wash up and starts rotting, and noxious things grow in the light. The humidity and noise in the immediate vicinity produced by the Water and machinery likewise is problematic. Positive airflow through the doors INTO the Station might stop the spread of that Stench (until the blowers fail from lack of maintenance once the 'civil war'/anarchist uprising started). Bathyspheres are rich peoples' transportation, so you are likely to have at least this measure in most locations where such a Station is found. Various organic growths on the Bathyspheres need to be constantly cleaned off, if not to control the smell, then to keep it from fouling the mechanisms. It is a High Maintenance situation - one of the many COSTS that would limit the Bathysphere-type transport, making it expensive beyond what is allowed for a normal public transportation system. AE stations would have the same issue (but at least they can transport far more passengers, and the hoi polloi generally can have less offactorial discernment). Internal Tram/Trolleys don't have this type of problem, as they don't go into or near the water. --- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- Something at least a little closer to what the 'Bathyspheres' should have been : ---- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Some Concept Artists gave a better design (A Bathysphere Cable/Track) : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ---- This real world undersea vehicle (A Bathyscaphe - its what BioShock's "Bathyspheres" are supposed to actually be named) in 1960 descended down about 7 MILES deep (Near 37,000 Feet Deep !!) into the Marianas Trench in the Pacific (the deepest part of the World's oceans). BTW - for practical reasons, RAPTURE cannot be much more that a 10th of a mile deep in water ( and THAT is a difficult enough environment construction technology/engineering-wise ). NOTE - EVEN THIS THING The Trieste's dirigible envelope was full of gasoline (liquids don't compress in volume), which is less dense than water and thus generates buoyancy in the oceans water, thus offsetting the weight of the small very thick metal sphere the two passengers rode in. Truly more a 'Zeppelin' than those obscene artist's monstrosities they had in that third BioShock game LOOKS MORE LIKE A "ZEPPELIN" THAT THOSE RETARDED "Zeppelin" THINGS IN INFINITE BS . This is what the Trieste's control cabin looked like inside - crammed full of equipment. The 'Trieste' descended to 35,797 ft depth in 1960. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concept - Hmm, properly protected propeller, control surfaces, moderate size ... Nah, it had too much thought put into required function rather than 'artistic' form. Anything logical like this seems to have been DISCARDED by the BioShock game designers ... . . . --- --- --- A Steward in Bathyspheres (Deluxe Luxury Transit) ' : For those who don't wish to rub elbows with the ''Hoi Poloi ... And prefer First-Class Service. Probably a drink service could be accommodated (by pre-arrangement). Plush seating is just a matter of substitution. Carefree transit door-to-door and pickup at private Bathysphere docks. The Bathysphere system we were shown in-game really could NOT be Rapture's primary Transit system. Too low a capacity, too few/inflexible in destinations, inability to carry sufficient freight, too slow (and significant delays for all stops going through those airlocks), and with too much a bottleneck at the Stations (which could only handle a few at a time). They simply do NOT (and can NOT) operate like Automobiles/Mass Transit do in our World. AE Trains (which later pretty much shifted to all Freight hauling), and a Trolley system would be a much better fit for the masses of people who needed to get around Rapture. The same paths Trolleys used could also accommodate bicycles/walking for short city-cluster to city-cluster passage (See my 'Streets' design feature). So what does that leave the Bathyspheres as ? Something closer to a 'Taxi' (or Limo) between important destinations, taken by affluent people who might want more exclusivity (particularly when the vessel is only a 12 foot sphere), and who could afford the expense (or by more ordinary folk 'splurging'). --- --- --- 'The Inoperable Bathysphere Camper ' : There must've been lots of "Bathyspheres" parked around Rapture (in the various Stations), and likewise privately-owned and work subs. Those would require 'Parking Lots', enabling sharing the expensive Dock systems, along with the fewer private 'Garages'. The "Bathyspheres" (they are Submarines actually) had self-contained environment systems (heating/cooling) and power systems, which if kept working properly could make them comfy places. Also as they could be closed up/sealed (and locked and were nice thick metal), they could make safe hidey-holes within less pleasant areas. Locks on the inside -- which would have made for an odd story : If Jack had simply never come out at the start of BS1 after seeing 'Johnny' (Atlas's lackey) disemboweled right outside the window. The WYK control conflicting with a 4 year old's fear of dark places and scary goons, resulting in Atlas alternately threatening and then pleading with Jack to 'come out' ... I would have one of the MMORPG Splicer 'Factions' have a Bathysphere as its HQ (its got a radio you know), but now has all kinds of extra stuff glombed onto it (probably these add-ons should stop short of having legs added, and turning it into a MECH.) Deluxe Bathysphere models probably could have a 'private' lavatory. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- '''Mini Subs : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Used for exterior construction and building/utility inspection duties, and as a 'cockpit' (control unit) for In-Ocean construction equipment. Such undersea vehicles would have been in development quite a while BEFORE the Rapture project was even started This MMORPG isn't to be "Wave of the hand" fantasy like Infinite BS was, so a long technological development time for such a vehicle being produced is MUCH more realistic, to be used for industrial sea construction (Ryan Industries maybe made submarine-type mechanism for the US Navy in WW2, even though Ryan thought Wars a waste, he likely had plans to expand that part of his industrial empire anyway.) The Mini Sub has a 8 foot 'spherical' interior - a passenger/operator compartment and its 'works' (versus 12 feet for the passenger type Bathyspheres), displacing about 8 1/2 tons (This doesn't include all the extensions/mechanisms outside its pressure hull). NOTE - It HAS to weigh all those tons to have neutral buoyancy (so as to neither float-up nor sink-down constantly) ... Vehicles like this would have Minimal amenities, as it IS a 'work' vehicle. It would be Designed for Safety and Reliability (as it should be with ANY such real vehicle). This unit type should also be robust and rugged, as it would be used under long adverse conditions, starting with Rapture's early construction environments. SO it would have extra capacities for 'air' and 'scrubbers' and power, beyond what the ordinary Bathysphere's would have. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Note how thin the hull is (yet thick enough to NOT collapse under the extreme water pressure) - 1 inch thick steel in a spherical shape, with interior bracings to distribute the pressure force. Then batteries under the floor - lots and lots of heavy batteries. The large window is probably quite heavy. The vehicle has neutral buoyancy. It all has to weigh as much as the water it displaces. Various drive machinery and high pressure tanks and such are also heavy. The Right and Lower parts of this Diagram are details of the airlock/docking port the Mini-Subs used (you will find these indicated on many of my amended level maps). Its is a fairly complex task to get a tight/secure docking seal when 280 lb/sq in water pressure is involved (the vehicle side of that 'seal' is also integral to the design ... MORE heavy metal components and working mechanisms). --- --- --- STUPID DLC (Sloppy is Par in DLC) : ''' BaSx just inflated ideas from the previous two games. Fontaine now has become an Industrial Tycoon, effectively owning a 'car' company (or rather the equivalent in producing '''NEW Bathysphere models). * First - Fontaine couldn't BE that rich - even Al Capone with 100X the money/power couldn't do it. Bathyspheres are far MORE complex than automobiles. * Second - Who is going to buy them ??? (Who is rich enough? Rapture's population ain't that big to buy enough of them for Fontaine to even get his R&D (let alone production) expenses back before getting profit dollar #1) * Third - How many years to develop ? (1958 is just years after HE would have ANY money available to 'diversify' his businesses - that is IF he had any leftover after his ADAM business - and ALL the other businesses he supposedly owned.) Auto companies with HUGE resources take YEARS to retool for new models. * Fourth - No Assembly Line production is viable - These things don't have Economy of Scale to produce them cheaply (limiting the number of potential buyers). So thats 10X as expensive as something already VERY expensive. Hand made autos don't make a profit. Wave of the Hand is NOT a good basis for storytelling about a realistic society. - 8tonAbsurdities.jpg|So stylish MoreUtterIgnorance.jpg|Now with even MORE Gianourmous window !!! Scammodel.jpg|I guess they thot "50s Era Fins" ... Yeah that's the ticket !!! Boneheadz.jpg|Love the giant claw to pick it up --- --- --- BTW, Where was the projector for the 'Welcome To Rapture' film you see when you do your Lighthouse Descent ? TVs in Bathyspheres might be interesting (off to the side of the window - except how do you use 'Cable' transmission to overcome piss poor TV/Radio reception floating while in water ??? And video recording equipment was MASSIVE in the early days). HEY !!! I was standing in the way (in front of the screen) but saw no shadow/blockage - if the projector was behind ... (( '' Oops gets in the way of the 'storytelling', where the reveal of the view of the city was storyboarded... and reality isn't welcome if it intrudes on those game Storyboards. So YOU, Looking to the side at the 'movie', and then having your head forced to look out the window - that 'Player control' at least would preserved the idea this wasn't some careless Fantasy-land'')) IT IS VERBOTEN to spoil the sudden awesomeness Vision of Rapture (Note - that bathysphere window had to be blocked til the 'dramatic point' .) --- --- --- Submarine Garage (required to operate a Submarine in Rapture) : * Airlocks (large expensive machinery ) and/or docking adapters(slow) * Safety factors (with major hazards - pressure issues) everyday-use systems have to be pretty much fail-safe. * Recharging facilities air/power to resupply things needed for next operation (and to maintain a sufficient margin of safety (running out of air is not the same as running out of gas in your car). * If your car fails you are stuck on the side of the road. IF your Bathysphere gets stuck/breaks-down, YOU are crushed flat and drowned by the Unforgiving Sea. * These Bathysphere vehicles are much more like Private Airplanes, rather than like Automobiles. More hazards, more potentially fatal failures possible. Such vehicles are FAR more expensive. * Mechanic/Pilot - Maintenance takes time SO a 'rich' owner would not have to devote themselves (or their transport qualify) for. Servicing IS required for every trip -- IGNORANCE IS NOT A VIRTUE LEVINE. SO the number of Private Submarines would have been limited to various wealthy people and some companies that needed them, and some hired transport services ('Limo Service'). --- --- --- NEW FROM FONTAINE : The Burial At Sea DLC tried to reinvent 'new' Bathyspheres (Regurgitated the idea to put in the 'Departments Store to again follow on and aggrandize Fontaine's supposed power/influence in Rapture). 's Mall]] . . . . . . . . . Some 'Flaws' : * A real Head Banger (ceiling bending in) above seats (a poor badly imagined design Dont ever let an 'artist' design anything your life depends on.) * That stupid CO2 scrubber component (Needed later To make a time machine ... ) * Steering wheel ? ... To steer a Submarine ? * Steering wheel (Ever try to use one sitting sideways ?) * Fancy decorative shit can't drive a sub (a tiny chauffeur compartment might have been interesting) * Big hole in the cabins main floor - you see a whatzits, but nuthin else down there (Hint - Real subs are CRAMMED with equipment/machinery) * New huge SLOPED door, with its Huge window (Note to fantasy writers - crushing depths are 'crushing') ... 'huge'r than needed * Same old buoyancy problematic issues - this simply cannot work as shown * Shouldn't it be carpeted ? Comfort. This ain't some vehicle used to deliver Fish, is it ? * Why think seriously about such Fantasy tripe any further, when the game designers didn't bother to ? ''' --- --- --- '''Bathysphere Floating High On Water - Would be a Great Wobbly Vomit Inducing System (WVIS) : Tilt, sway, roll, bob ... puke (and decide to take the Trolley Tram next time). Lifts and cranes used at the docks to lift free of the water (and probably having some wheels underneath the 28 ton vehicle, to be able to trundle around/sit on the sturdy out-of-water parking surfaces). Since there is no real need to be on the water surface floating any more, even the annoying motion of being 7/8ths submerged would be gone. The cable system, which I could see Bathyspheres really work with, would be far more workable and safer (less likely to sink on malfunction, sink or implode with insta-death for the passengers). No need for justifying the space and excess complication of a longer-distance propulsion system (or recharging as often). Now the vehicle IS largely just the cockpit capsule (instead of the vehicle being many times as large for the same passenger count, and even heavier, requiring a bigger dock, etc..) --- --- --- Vomit Bags are Available for a Modest Price : Deluxe Service would also offer 'mints' at likewise modest prices. A Spherical Bathysphere rocks when passengers inside shift about (the compensation system can't adjust fast enuf). A large part of the vehicles mass has to be at the very bottom to dampen it some (hard to do with the heavy spherical pressure shell). Stabilizing fins which generate waterflow resistance in the horizontal plane would help (good thing the Bathysphere is actually dragged round on Cables, otherwise the added drag would limit self-propulsion efficiency even further). --- --- --- --- --- . .